I have noticed that when ever I use a spell to summon a monster it stays around for a certain period and then when the duration of the spell expires the summoned monster disappears. Not so when I use the Orb to summon demons; the demons stay with the party forever until killed or driven off with a Dismissal (which only works on the Vrock I have noticed and only after repeated castings). This might seem OK, since the demons are generally very powerful compared to most other monsters, but even so I should be able to end the summons voluntarily, or the summoning should end after a certain time as per the summoning of other monsters. In truth the demons can become quite annoying (I guess this is the price you pay for summoning super evil creatures: they sense your weakness and want to hang around to take advantage ...) The demons can be annoying because a) they take up slots that could be used by other charmed, summoned or called monsters/creatures; b) the demons all have powers which damage anyone next to them, enemies and fellow party members alike, c) they take up a lot of room, being really big, so making movement of the party more awkward d) they freak out certain good aligned NPCs the party might wish to visit and do business with. For these and other reasons I would like the summoned demons to go away after their usefulness has ended. As I wrote above, Dismissal seems to work sometimes but only on the Vrocks, the weakest of the demons; getting rid of the other demons is a real chore. I have had to do the laborious of firing large numbers of magic missiles at them (friendly fire) but there must be a better way. Any ideas ?
I am surprised because the monsters I summon with the orb disappear as quickly as those I summon with spells. I tried to summon a Glabrezu and a Vrock both throught the gem and after putting the gems in the orb and they disappear quite fast. I'd love to know how you manage to get summoned monsters that just hang around.
This hanging around biz... ...is a bug that was put down with the one of the fixes found in co8 3.0.4 (or in temple.dll by moebius...?). Try applying these to fix it, or leave them off if you enjoy demonic accompaniment.
There have been varying reports of this; I know for me personally only the Hezrou and Balor are affected in this manner. Make sure you have all the latest patches (except Atari's latest patch). Also, all the creatures are vulnerable to Dismissal, they just have insane saving throws, so it rarely works. I would suggest just killing them. You might get XP (but I doubt it). Anyway, you've already killed those creatures before, haven't you? Your party + Vrock + Hezrou + Glabrezu ganging up on the Balor will take it out pretty fast, then you can take out the Hezrou or Glabrezu (whichever you found harder), finally deal with the Vrock on your own.
There must be an easier way ?! Sounds like a lot of unnecessary hassle, and wasted energy. I should be able to just send them back the way they came, through the gems or Orb, by having an option to end the summons. Or alternatively like all summoned monsters the spell should end after a time and then they just quietly disappear. Having to fight and kill a hezrou with all of its hit points each time I want to get rid of it, even if I can do this by ganging up on it and outflanking it and using other demons, etc, seems silly and I think this should be fixed; it is obviously a flaw in the game not intended by the designers. There has to be an easier way ...
I wasn't saying to unpatch... ...apologies for the confusion. Some folks like having demons around forever, while others may not, so choose wether or not to apply the fixes based on your personal preference. I like it better when they come and go as intended, not following me into the Church of St. Cuthbert. It tends to make the priests therein a bit, well, unfriendly...
